The Night Before Christmas
by Levells
Summary: The Bladebreakers have just won yet another tournament only to realize the next morning is Christmas Eve. Will they be able to make this Christmas something memorable and find the spirit of Christmas?


AN – This is my first and last Beyblade oneshot (not counting drabbles). Please leave a review if you read :)

* * *

The Bladebreakers had just returned to their hotel room exhausted, the long days of practice and tournament battles bringing them to the brink of sleepwalking. Even Tyson was unusually quiet, just trying to walk to his bed.

Relieved they had finished first again and would not be scheduled in another tournament for at least a month, everyone collapsed on their beds, asleep before their heads hit their pillows.

Max was the first one awake, out of bed at 5 am. Even Ray and Kai, known to be early risers, weren't going to be getting out of bed for some time. That is, until Max's shout roused everyone from their peaceful slumber.

"Wake up everyone! It's Christmas Eve!" he yelled.

"Huh? What'd you say, Max?" said the ever-alert Ray, somehow managing to be heard despite the fact that his face was buried in his pillow.

"Kenny lifted his head off his pillow, exclaiming "Whaaat?! We would've slept right through it and maybe missed Christmas!"

"Come on, wake up!" Max said as he tried to wake Tyson.

Rolling over, Tyson muttered, "Ugh. What time is it?"

"It's 5 am. Wake up Tyson, we've got a lot to do today." Max said, tugging on Tyson's arm.

"Nothing's worth getting up at 5am for. Except free food." Tyson said as he fought to remain lying down.

"Come on Tyson. It's Christmas Eve, after all." Ray said as he yawned, teeth glinting in the low light.

"What? It's Christmas Eve?!" Tyson exclaimed as he sat up quickly, causing Max to fall backwards.

"Yeah, that's why I was trying to wake you. We've got to decorate the room and get a tree!" Max said, rubbing his backside.

The Chief reached out a hand to tap Kai's shoulder to see if he was awake, being the only silent one during the last few minutes. Surely no one could sleep through Tyson's voice?

"Don't touch me." Came the cool voice of Kai, just before Kenny's hand touched his shoulder. "And don't expect any help from me. I'm not doing anything to help you babies celebrate a fat man who flies around the world to give presents."

"Uh oh. Sounds like someone didn't get what they wanted for Christmas." said Tyson.

"Hmph." was Kai's only response.

"Come on everyone, let's get dressed and get started." Ray said as he got out of bed.

"Okay. Sounds good to me. I can't wait to hit the breakfast buffet." Tyson agreed, stretching.

"Hey, does anyone have any money?" Max asked, searching his pockets.

Kenny shook his head. "I don't think we've got anything left. We'll just have to make the decorations and gifts ourselves."

"Alright. Tyson, you and me can get a tree. Max, you stay here with the Chief and see what you can come up with." Ray said, putting on his winter jacket and heading out the door.

"Hey! Wait up! What about breakfast?!" came Tyson's reply as he ran across the room.

"We'll get that later. Some fresh air early in the morning will do wonders for you." Ray said as he disappeared around the corner.

The two boys walked a few blocks to the nearby forest. There, they saw large trees, too large to carry back to their hotel.

"Hey, what about that one right there?" Tyson said, pointing to a thin four and a half foot tall tree. While not too tall, the trunk was still fairly thick at about 4 inches in diameter.

"That one's not bad. It should work fine."

"Okay. But how are we going to get it back to the hotel? Unless you've got an axe hiding in your coat, it looks like we'll have to go back and get one."

"Really?" Ray said, his eyes glimmering. He held up Driger. "On 3?"

"Oh yeah!"

Both boys slapped their beyblades into their launchers, hands resting on their ripcords.

"3 - 2 - 1!"

"Let it rip!"

Dragoon flew towards the tree, colliding against Driger once to rebound and circle around to the opposite side of the tree.

"Go, Dragoon!"

"Driger! Tiger Claw!"

Flecks of wood flew from the tree as the two beyblades shredded the trunk down to a rough thin pole about half an inch thick. Tyson and Ray moved towards one another, ready to catch the tree when it fell. Dragoon spiraled away from the tree while Driger circled around to the side closest to Ray and Tyson. Angling closer to the ground, Driger remained against the trunk while Dragoon aimed itself at the tree, using a pebble to launch itself into the air just above where Driger lay on the other side.

CRACK!

The resulting impact caused the tree to be knocked over, the trunk cut cleanly through by the combined force of the two blades.

Catching the tree, an arm on each side, Tyson and Ray lifted it to stand up. Ray reached down and pick up both beyblades, handing Tyson his Dragoon.

"Let's head back. That was quicker than I thought it would be." Ray said.

"Yeah, let's see if Max and the Chief got anything done. After we hit the buffet, of course."

The two made their way back to the hotel, only avoiding the buffet by sheer force as Ray pushed Tyson up the stairs with the tree. Despite his stomach's protests, Tyson agreed with Ray and was curious if the room would look any different in the short amount of time they'd been gone. Opening the door to their room, they were both shocked to find the room decorated with an assortment of beyblade parts. Ripcords, along with attack rings and weight disks attached to strings, were laid out on a table, presumably for the tree. Others were hanging around the room from nails and various other fixtures. Newspaper lay in a stack by the table.

"Woah! Check out this room." Tyson exclaimed.

"Guess they guys have been busy. I wonder if Kai's still here." said Ray, stifling a yawn.

"Aw, who cares about that sourpuss. He'll turn up when he feels like it." Tyson said, his stomach growling. "That reminds me, we haven't had breakfast yet!"

Ray sighed. "Is that all you can think about, Tyson?"

"Well, yeah. Christmas is great and all, but it's not here right now. Breakfast is. Catch ya later!"

"Tyson, wait!" Ray exclaimed too late. Tyson was already out the door and heading straight for the breakfast tables.

Max and Kenny came out of another room to see Ray standing by the door, shaking his head.

"Did Tyson just ditch us?" Max asked.

"Yup. Although I suppose we're lucky he got the tree with me before he left."

"Looks like it's just the three of us, then. Kai left sometime after you did. We didn't hear him leave." Kenny explained.

"Figures he'd ghost out first chance he got." Ray said, unsurprised.

* * *

Kai sat on the roof of the hotel, away from anyone who would bother him with talk about Christmas. It was peaceful this way.

"Hi."

Kai's eyes narrowed in annoyance. He came here to escape from everyone, but here was someone to bother him. The voice sounded like a small child. He turned to see who it was.

A small girl with red hair stood behind him. She was wearing Christmas pajamas and a Santa hat.

"What are you doing up here?" She asked him.

Kai closed his eyes, thinking she would leave him alone if she didn't get an answer.

The little girl worked her way around to stand in front of Kai. She leaned closer to him, tilting her head as she did.

"Staying away from my team."

"Why? Did they do something?"

"Hmph. Getting ready for Christmas."

"You don't like Christmas?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Kai's eyebrow twitched. "I just don't."

"There has to be a reason. You don't just not like something."

Kai stared at the girl.

"I'm annoying you, aren't I?" she said with a grin. "It's okay. You can tell me. Everyone does."

"Are you always like this?"

"Only when people don't answer me." she said truthfully. "So why don't you help your team? Everyone should help out at Christmas."

"Just drop it, kid. I'm not doing anything for them." He turned his back to the girl, considering the conversation over.

"What's your name?" came the voice again.

Kai gritted his teeth. If she would just stop asking questions and leave him alone, he could still have his quiet.

"Kai."

"Oh, you are him! We wanted to meet the Bladebreakers for a long time now. I love birds, so Dranzer is the best." she said, grinning.

Kai sighed. It seemed like she was talking even more now that his back was turned.

The girl continued talking. "We all want to be like the Bladebreakers and practice Beyblading, but we don't have any Beyblades…" She drifted off sadly.

"Oh! My name's Kelly by the way. I'm so glad I got to meet you."

Kai waited for her to continue but instead, all he could hear was the sound of the wind swirling around the building. He leaned back slightly and looked up at the clouds, finally alone in the silence.

BANG!

The door to the roof opened quickly, slamming against the building.

"Kai, I don't care if I have to drag you down there, but you're going to help out."

"I highly doubt that, Ray."

"You could at least look like you care. Just stay in the same room, even. I don't know why you're such a Grinch but you could at least support us."

"Hmph. Whatever. If it keeps you off my back, then fine."

* * *

Kai sat at the table, next the pile of newspapers. They were yesterday's edition, with a large photo featured in the main story.

Kai's eyes widened. _No_. _That's just not possible, it can't be her_. The photo was of a young girl with red hair. The same girl who had been talking to him only a few minutes ago. He scanned the article to see if she had a twin. The first lines of the article dashed his hopes of that, twins didn't share names. 'Kelly Lynn, age 9, was struck and killed last night outside the Bayside Orphanage by a speeding car. Police are on the lookout for a man with purple hair. If you have any information, you're asked to call local authorities. Kelly was an only child who lost her parents when she was 3. She has been living at the orphanage since. Her friends say she loved to watch Beyblade matches and her dream was to meet the Bladebreakers, a pastime and dream they all share…' The article continued, talking about the orphanage and how they relied on donations and had gotten very few this year. Christmas would not happen for the children, and it was questionable if the orphanage would even remain open much longer.

"Kai? Are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost." Max said.

"It's nothing." came the curt reply.

"Well, okay. If you say so."

Kai's head was spinning, he was unsure of what to think. There was no way Kelly could have been talking to him...but it was impossible that he could have been imagining the entire conversation.

"Ray?"

"Yeah Kai?"

"Did you see anyone else on the roof?"

"No, just you. Why?"

"No reason."

Kai got up, still holding the newspaper, and went to find Kenny. The Chief was in their room, digging through old parts.

"What's up, Kai?"

Kai wordlessly handed him the paper. Kenny read it quickly. "That's terrible!"

"What's terrible, Chief?" asked Max, turning the corner into the room.

"A little girl was hit by a car and died. And the orphanage she was staying in might be closing for good!"

"Oh no! We have to do something!" exclaimed Max.

"I've got an idea..." said Kai and the Chief together.

* * *

The Bladebreakers arrived at the orphanage later that night with a small bag held by a disgruntled Kai, dressed as Santa. The remaining bladers were dressed like elves, their costumes all provided by Mr. Dickinson. While doing something for the orphanage was Kai's idea, dressing up was not. It took a lot of bribery to convince Kai to put on the outfit. He still refused to wear the beard, but they were impressed at what they had accomplished.

The children's eyes lit up when they saw the Bladebreakers, amazed that their favorite Bladers were standing in their orphanage. It took many of them a while to even realize they were dressed for the occasion and had a bag of presents.

"Hey everyone!" said Chief.

"We saw the paper and just had to come by!" chimed Max.

"And we've got great news!"

"Mr. Dickinson has agreed that the proceeds from the next tournament will be going to Bayside Orphanage." announced Ray.

"And my dad's promised to donate some stuff from his hobby shop!" Max chimed in. "We've got some in the sack for presents right now, but there'll be even more later."

"Thank you children. We're so blessed to have you tonight. I don't know what we would have done without you." said Edna, the elderly caretaker.

* * *

"Aww, now we won't have any presents for ourselves!" Tyson complained.

"Come on Tyson, Christmas is about giving. You saw the smiles on those kids' faces. They loved it!" said Max, grinning.

"Yeah, think about someone other than yourself for once, Tyson. Those kids really needed help." Kenny followed up.

"I know that, guys, but that doesn't mean we couldn't have saved some for us, too."

Kai made his way up the roof, holding one of the newspapers in his hand. He was still wearing his Santa suit. Emerging from the door, he took a quick look around. Seeing nothing, he closed his eyes and let out his breath. He felt a sudden pressure around his waist and opened his eyes quickly, only to see a familiar mass of red hair, with her arms wrapped around him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" exclaimed Kelly.

"Don't mention it. Ever." said Kai.

She looked up at him with wide eyes. "Can I ask a favor?"

Kai's eyes narrowed as he looked at her.

"Can I see Dranzer in action?"

Kelly let go of Kai as he reached behind himself to grab Dranzer and his launcher. Kai closed his eyes momentarily as he gathered himself and then snapped them open as he released his Beyblade.

"Go Dranzer!"

The blue Beyblade shot across the roof and then began to circle rapidly as light began pouring out of the top, manifesting itself into the mighty phoenix. The wind generated by the Beyblade pushed Kelly's hair behind her as she watched in awe as Dranzer stretched his wings and screeched.

"It's so incredible…"

Kai looked over at her as the clock struck midnight, watching her and her grin slowly fade from his sight as she vanished right in front of him. Kai felt something cold land on his nose and looked up to see snow falling.

"Merry Christmas Kelly." said Kai quietly to the empty roof as he went to pick up his Beyblade.

* * *

AN - Okay, what'd you think? I'll admit, I've had a rough draft of this for probably 4-5 years now, the only thing I was missing was the ending. This also marks my retirement from the Beyblade fandom. I've fallen off the writing wagon badly, but if I do manage to get back on, it'll only be for Zoids and Fullmetal Alchemist, or something original.

Please read and review :)


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